Beacon
by Jedi Takeru
Summary: Nearly two decades after the Clone Wars, Ahsoka Tano is found on Yavin 4 by the Rebel Alliance, who've come to construct a new base. Ahsoka agrees to do whatever they want, on one condition; they have to help her get a shot at Vader. COMPLETE! PLEASE R&R!
1. Prologue

Prologue

_Every single Jedi is now an enemy of the Republic._

-Chancellor Palpatine, declaring Order 66 to the general public shortly before declaring the formation of the Empire

19 BBY

Ahsoka Tano, apprentice to Anakin Skywalker, woke up floating in a liquid with the viscosity of _jumja_ juice and immediately noticed that her ribs no longer hurt.

_That's odd,_ she reflected. She'd been thrown into the side of a droid fighter by some sort of Sith acolyte, and then… She shook her head and blinked, trying to clear away a familiar bluish haze from her eyes.

_Oh,_ she thought, feeling silly that she hadn't known where she was immediately. _That's why I'm not hurting. Thank the Force for bacta tanks._

Still, not everything was explained. Yes, this was a bacta tank, and that was well and good…but where was it? Presumably it was the same one she'd been put in for injuries sustained during the Second Battle of Tatooine, but she wasn't sure.

If she was right, then she was aboard the Republic vessel _Emancipator_. She remembered vaguely that her Master had arrived at the last moment, as she'd been slipping into unconsciousness. Then he picked her up from the sandy ground and begun carrying her…well, presumably, carrying her here, into the medbay.

How long had she been out? Where was Anakin? She didn't know the answer to either question, but she knew that she had to find out.

_Right about now they should remember that I'm here…_ she thought, waiting patiently in the thick liquid. Then a clone marched in, donned in that horrid-looking new uniform that had been issued recently—_Wait_, she realized, _he's wearing a _kama. _It's Rex._—and walked close to her so that the only thing separating them was the tank itself.

Then Rex hit something on the control panel and she felt powerful mechanical arms lift her up and out into Rex's waiting ones.

.

Rex couldn't believe it. _The Jedi would never betray us,_ he thought, staring numbly at his holocomm, on which a message from Chancellor Palpatine had flashed only seconds before. _This has to be a trick._

But it couldn't be. Order 66 was highly classified, so high that only the Chancellor himself and a few of his top aides knew it even existed, and fewer aides knew what it actually said. Unless one of them had blabbed—which was very unlikely, as Palpatine had an entirely handpicked staff—then there was no way that the Separatists could know about it.

But supposing that they did…holo-transmissions weren't that hard to fake. A bright teenager could fool the GAR for a little bit as long as it was brief, and the transmission from the supposed Palpatine had been about as brief as they came.

_Either way,_ he reasoned, _I know for a fact that neither Kenobi nor Skywalker nor our resident Togruta would betray the Republic. I mean, she's just a kid. She's saved my life more times than I can count._

But he knew that not every crewman on the _Emancipator_ would see it that way, and that some would go after yet another Jedi he knew to be good—their temporary commander, Master Burr, whom he had sworn to Anakin that he would help establish relations with the crew while the Hero With No Fear went off and played hero wherever orders had taken him next. The result was that the majority of the crew--mostly new recruits following a disastrous engagement at Tatooine--had no issues of personal loyalty regarding Master Burr. For Rex, that didn't matter. He had been present when Kenobi had vouched for the man. Any friend of Kenobi's was a friend of his.

_I will not let orders false or verified make me into a monster._

He marched from the room to do his duty

.

"What's going on?" Ahsoka knew that there was something wrong even as she knew that wherever Rex was taking her, he harbored no ill intent. Something felt strange, as if the ship itself had suddenly become twisted and evil.

She cried out in pain as the Force hit her like a punch to the gut. "What's wrong, little'un?" asked Rex, concerned.

She gasped for breath, tears streaming down her cheeks as she felt the deaths of so many good and decent people. "It's like hundreds of voices, all Jedi, suddenly cried out in…betrayal…and were suddenly silenced."

Rex said nothing for a moment, then deposited her on the floor of the equipment room, withdrawing a small box from her locker.

"Put these on and keep your 'saber ready, little'un. I'll turn around, but do it _quickly_."

She did so and kept her lightsaber in her hand, ready to activate at a moment's notice. "Alright now," she said, pulling on her second boot. "Enough with the secrecy. What's going on, Rex?"

Even through his armor, the clone looked highly uncomfortable. "I just received an order from Chancellor Palpatine: Order 66. He claims that the Jedi have turned traitor."

"That's impossible!" cried Ahsoka, shocked and feeling as though this were a horrible nightmare.

"The specific order says that all Jedi must be shot on sight," continued Rex. "Apparently most of the GAR doesn't have a problem with it, given that you felt all of those Jedi die just now. I do, because I refuse to kill children and also I refuse to kill your duly appointed Jedi guardian. I'm getting you out of here, both of you."

Ahsoka stared at him, not wanting to believe a word of what he'd just said yet at the same time knowing that all of it was true. She swallowed. "We have a saying at the Temple, Captain. Evil triumphs only when good men fail to take action against it." She clapped him on the shoulder. "You're a good man, Captain, and you've just taken action. You'd have made a fine Jedi."

"Thank you, ma'am," he said, walking towards the door and motioning for her to follow. "But now we've gotta get moving. I'd wager that I'm not the only one the ship that received the order. Some of the newer crew might not be as…understanding…as I am."

"You're saying I might have to kill clones."

"Unless we're very, very lucky, yes."

"Only if it's the last resort."

"Good luck with that, ma'am. Now let's move!"


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One

_Dissent is as patriotic as Formation Day._

-Senator Leia Organa, voicing support of the Rebellion to her father

0.5 BBY

Major Jacob Summers, self-proclaimed best sniper in the entire Rebel Alliance, felt like he was being watched.

If it had been a certain Lieutenant back at the base, he wouldn't have had a problem with it. Unfortunately, he was in the jungle and said Lieutenant was in orbit aboard the battle cruiser _Serenity_.

That meant he was being watched by someone else. He had a problem with that.

He turned in a circle, rifle in hand, scanning the trees…and saw nothing. But unless he was going space crazy—_Odd for that to happen on a _planet, he thought—something, some_one_ else was out there.

Almost before his brain could register it, he found himself flat on his back, gasping for breath and staring at his attacker, a striking female Togruta of roughly thirty-five standard years of age; not that much older than himself. But there was one aspect of her that drew his attention far more than age or beauty.

She brandished a lightsaber.

_This is insane…_

.

Ahsoka Tano wasn't about to let the Imperials desecrate yet another world, especially the one she'd taken as her home.

_Not again_, she thought, swinging silently through the trees above her oblivious quarry. Never _again_.

The rational part of her mind told her that there was nothing that a single Jedi, even one whose training had been partially done by the legendary Anakin Skywalker, could do against an entire Imperial garrison.

The irrational part, the one that brought to mind her first Master, said that she would rather die opposing evil than live in silent assent.

_Is this guy Force-sensitive?_ she asked herself, watching as he looked up into the trees, searching.

It wouldn't have surprised her. More and more stories of so-called "mutants" were cropping up. Had people forgotten the Jedi already? Did they just not realize that all of the strange reports about Palpatine indicated quite clearly that he was a Sith? It didn't seem possible. And yet...

Had it really been nearly nineteen years since Order 66? Had it really been nearly nineteen years since the Chancellor—a man her first Master had openly _admired!_—had declared himself Emperor? As for the Republic…it was now the Empire. The transition had been accomplished to nothing less than thunderous applause.

Nearly nineteen years had passed since the siege of the Jedi Temple…and during it, the death of her first Master.

She didn't know how he'd died. She liked to think that he'd gone out fighting, taking down as many of those two-faced traitors as he could. She liked to think that he'd died a warrior.

She'd been only sixteen then, recovering from serious injuries in a bacta tank. Only Anakin's right-hand man, Clone Captain Rex, had saved her. Not all the clones had been willing to betray their commanders.

_For you, Sky-guy_, she thought as she dropped down towards the first of many parasites she'd have to take care of.

_For the Jedi_.

.

"Before you die, I want you to know why," began the Togruta, her lightsaber so close to his throat he could feel the heat radiating from the blade.

"You're a Jedi!" he gasped, freezing right where he was even though every fiber of his body wanted to run away screaming.

"You're observant," she responded dryly. "And you're about to die because you're a soldier in the rolling death ball that is the Empire. That makes you my enemy. I don't have a habit of letting my enemies live."

"No, wait-" he gasped, stopping as the blade moved even closer to his throat. Half a centimeter more and he'd never, ever get to buy a drink for the lovely Lieutenant Torres.

"Wait?" She laughed, a harsh sound that reverberated throughout the jungle, startling several birds who then flew away at hyperspeed. "Why should I wait? The Jedi waited for the Sith to regain their full power instead of hunting them down once there were even _rumors_ of their return." Her eyes held an intensity of the kind seldom seen as she laughed again, now sad and bitter. "Look what that got the Jedi."

_Smart birds_, he thought, staring at the very-possibly-unstable Jedi and trying not to fear for his life. _This is not what I signed up for…_

"The Empire's crushed everything," she said, bitterly, her 'saber never wavering a micrometer. "The Jedi are all but gone, my second Master was found and shot a few months ago, the few good men among the clones have been shot, today's youth are indoctrinated in policies of intolerance and oppression, and worst of all," she finished, looking as though she might send her saber plunging forward at any moment, "what little resistance there was in the beginning has been crushed, so there is no longer anyone to actively oppose _any_ of these atrocities."

He cleared his throat and forced on a quavering smile. "Actually, ma'am…"

.

Darth Vader was not pleased.

Though he wore armor over every inch of his body, his mood was nonetheless broadcast quite clearly. As the majority of the officers aboard the _Executor_ were intelligent enough to pick up on this, the crew complement remained unchanged since his awakening.

For now.

He was certainly tempted to do _something,_ even if it was just dueling with more mindless practice droids and contributing to Coruscant's scrap metal depot in the process. There was seldom enough left of his robotic sparring partners to use as a spare deck plate, much less rebuild from.

He felt this way for one reason. He had been on the planet Telos, now a wasteland but once a thing of exquisite beauty. He had been dueling a renegade Jedi by the name of Jae Kamiya, a half-trained Padawan who'd barely escaped the burning of the Temple nearly twenty years previous.

More than that, he had been losing. It hadn't been the servos in his suit, it hadn't been his breathing apparatus, though they certainly hadn't helped—the younger man was simply more skilled.

Anakin Skywalker, the man he had once been, had been one of the best duelists in the entire Jedi Order.

Darth Vader had been dueling an _apprentice_ and saved only by the timely arrival of a squad of storm-troopers.

The bulkheads began to quiver with his anger. The lights above him flickered once, and then exploded. He didn't care.

What was wrong? He was now a Sith Lord, apprentice to Lord Darth Sidious. That made him the second most powerful man in the galaxy.

And perhaps therein lay half the crux of the matter. _Second._ Also, despite his former status as a Jedi Knight, he had been, in effect, demoted. He was the _apprentice_ to Sidious. Perhaps it was cosmically just that he'd been beaten by a Jedi of the same rank.

"_It's all Obi-Wan's fault! He's holding me back!"_

The voice of Anakin Skywalker—back when he had been a _Jedi_ apprentice—came at him almost as an echo, vaguely unreal. _As it should be. That name no longer has any meaning for me._

Putting aside all the Kenobi had done to him, Sidious's conduct was nearly worse. _Nearly. Not even he could do to me what Kenobi did. Sidious was not the one who took Padmé from me. It was _Kenobi.

Still, Sidious had never been very forthcoming with Sith knowledge, dolling it out to his apprentice in small amounts, like a hunter keeping his nekk battle dog hungry in order to increase its ferocity while on the hunt.

_He has used me from the beginning. He is no more deserving of the title of Sith Lord than the Jedi Council was of living. This cannot stand forever. One day, he _will_ meet his end._

But today was not that day. Nor would it be the next day, or the day after that. Sidious was simply too powerful for him to deal with alone. Getting rid of him would certainly require assistance.

Until he discovered the best possible candidate for that position, Vader would bide his time.

And wait, like a serpent hidden in the brush.


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

_We can't save the Republic without holding on to the ideals that it's founded upon. They're what make it worth living in._

-Anakin Skywalker to his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, sixteen months before the Battle of Coruscant

Ahsoka Tano had nearly forgotten what it was to hope. Nearly two standard decades hiding in the jungle had that effect.

Now that nearly atrophied part of her brain was getting use again. She clamped down on it fiercely. The soldier had, after all, given her no reason to trust him.

"There's an actual armed rebellion against the Empire?" she asked, skeptically, keeping her lightsaber at his throat.

"Not exactly," said the soldier, making an admirable effort to control his voice. "Technically there's more than one. We're spread out over several planets, including several in the Empire. It's kind of like a Republic of rebellions. Our official name is the Alliance to Restore the Republic, but the Empire refers to us as the Rebel Alliance." These last two words were said with a faint note of pride. "Personally," he added with a grin that was unknowingly reminiscent of a long-dead Jedi from Tatooine, "I think 'Rebel Alliance' has more of a ring to it."

She looked into his eyes, stretching out with the Force in an attempt to gauge his honesty. She lowered her saber slowly, keeping it on and at her side. Her eyes stayed locked with his.

"If you try anything, I'll make you wish you were on one of those other planets. Got it?" she asked, at the same time causing several groups of leaves to lift into the air and begin to twirl like miniature tornadoes. _It's all in the way you present yourself,_ she thought. _Once he realizes I could kill him faster than a Coruscant second, maybe he won't make me._

"Understood perfectly, ma'am."

"Don't even _think_ about lying."

"Never to a Jedi, ma'am."

She raised an eyebrow. _I suppose,_ she mused,_ it's nice to see that there's at least one person in the galaxy who wouldn't turn me over to Palpatine in a heartbeat. Gotta give him credit for that,_ she admitted grudgingly.

"Keep talking."

.

Mon Mothma's day was now officially quite good. She'd begun the day as she began many of them, waking up and overseeing standard administrative duties as the Alliance moved into their new base.

And then Major Summers had come back from his patrol with a Jedi in tow.

In the beginning, back when the Alliance had been a Coruscant-only organization known as the Whiplash, there had been numerous Jedi assisting them. That number had slowly dwindled, turning to zero recently when an all-Jedi strike team had been killed while attempting to gain control of the Empire's newest technological terror—the super Star Destroyer _Executor_, reportedly commanded by Darth Vader himself.

Now the number was one, but not just _any_one. This was Ahsoka Tano, formerly apprenticed to the legendary Anakin Skywalker, who'd been rumored to be most powerful Jedi ever. Surely the apprentice of the so-called "Chosen One"—_Chosen to die,_ thought the former senator sadly—had to have learned a few things from her master.

Well, first things first. Now she had to make the lady's acquaintance.

.

"Whatever you want, I'll do it."

Mothma blinked slowly as she entered the room and stared at the Jedi. "You don't even know if I'm going to ask anything of you yet."

Ahsoka laughed a laugh that was utterly without mirth. "According to Major Summers, I'm the only Jedi you people have. Certain things are much easier accomplished by a Jedi than by someone else. Certain things that need to happen. You _will_ eventually ask me to do something, and I will, but I want two things in return."

"I thought Jedi were supposed to be selfless," remarked the elder woman.

"These will benefit you as well," continued Ahsoka, otherwise ignoring her. "First, I want a fast ship and the ability to handpick my crew. I want Major Summers to be a part of it as my chief of security."

"Why?"

"He knew I was following him somehow. That may mean he's Force-sensitive. I could help him learn to use any powers he might have. He also mentioned his record to me in passing. If half of what he said is true, then he'd be very useful indeed."

Mothma regarded the younger woman with a look bordering on haughty. "While I agree that Major Summers is a capable officer, I must say that though it may have been different for you under the Republic, _our_ ships are scarce and our men aren't flesh droids grown in vats. Give me a reason and I'll consider it."

Ahsoka paused and regarded her with an expression of barely controlled anger. "None of the clones were 'flesh droids,' ma'am," she said, tightly. "They were men, just like yours."

Mothma resisted the urge to shake off a chill and merely nodded, waiting for the Jedi to continue.

"And the second thing," said Ahsoka after another moment, "I want a shot at Vader."

Mothma arched an eyebrow. "I think everyone here wants a shot at him. Why should I position you over someone else?"

"Because," replied Ahsoka, locking eyes with the human leader, "if there's one thing Anakin Skywalker taught me how to do, it's to fight Sith."

"You couldn't have been of voting age when the Empire was formed. I've heard that Jedi training regularly went to when the learner was nineteen at the earliest, twenty-five at times."

"My training was finished by Master Burr three years after the Republic fell. I assure you, I _am_ a Jedi Knight."

_Interesting,_ noted Mothma, _if sad. She acknowledges that the Republic fell but not that the Empire formed in its place. _Such a mindset was dangerous, but usable, especially given the current circumstances. Mothma decided to change tactics, to see if the Jedi was just posturing.

"But can you _kill_ a Sith?" asked Mothma, affecting an intrigued tone. "Can you put aside your Jedi reverence for life and kill Vader? Your best shot may be while he's unarmed, in his quarters. He could be sleeping when you find him. He could be defenseless. Could you kill him in cold blood?"

"In a heartbeat," said Ahsoka without hesitation. "He's the symbol of fear in the Empire. He's killed dozens of Jedi, tortured others for the whereabouts of more. Ma'am, he's personally responsible for the deaths of many of my friends and no doubt yours as well. There are rumors that he personally led the assault on the Jedi Temple. He deserves to die."

Mothma frowned at the intensity in the Togruta's voice. "There are also rumors that Vader was once a Jedi and went mad with vengeance. Do not allow that to happen to you."

Ahsoka tilted her chin in defiance. "With all due respect ma'am, Vader dies either way. Does it really matter how I feel when he does?"

"Quite frankly, with that kind of an attitude it most certainly does. I'll put a ship at your disposal, but you will _not_ be in command of it, nor will Major Summers be aboard." Her expression softened. "If he's really Force-sensitive, then we'll have great need of him here. We're massing for an all-out assault in several months, and all of that could be ruined if the Imperials can get even one commando team in here. As to the ship, I have no doubt that you're a competent commander, but you're far too emotionally involved and our forces are spread rather thinly."

"I understand," said Ahsoka, projecting an air of defeat. "All that's really necessary is for me to get my shot."

"Count on it."

"Good. That's all that matters."


	4. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

_We are keepers of the peace turned soldiers. We will never be assassins while I am on this Council._

-Jedi Master Mace Windu to Jedi Master Cin Drallig, rebuking him for suggesting the assassination of Count Dooku three months after the Battle of Geonosis

Rebel cruiser _Excelsior_, in orbit of Yavin 4

"This is absolutely _crazy_, sir," said Lieutenant Elena Torres, barely restraining herself from pounding on her commander's desk for emphasis. "This Jedi, by reports of both Mothma and Summers, isn't exactly firing on all thrusters at the moment!"

"'This Jedi,' Lieutenant, is our best hope at the moment," replied Captain Aaron Urazoe, keeping his hands folded in a calm manner. "This is Ahsoka Tano, former apprentice-"

"-to the almighty Anakin Skywalker," finished Torres, glaring at him. "What's her teacher got to do with this?"

"_If_ you'd seen fit to let me finish, you'd understand," said Urazoe with a touch of irritation. "Skywalker was thought to be the 'Chosen One,' the most powerful Jedi ever. He trained Tano, and he trained her well. Near the end of the Clone Wars she fought General Grievous _alone_ and came out alive. She wasn't even a Knight then, and she survived a match with a killing machine."

Torres' eyebrows moved slowly upwards as she tried not to let on that she was impressed. Grievous had killed at least two dozen Jedi during the Clone Wars and collected their lightsabers as trophies. If Tano had managed to survive _that_…well then, that swung things rather strongly in her favor.

"Personally, I don't give a damn about her mental condition if she can kill Vader and make the galaxy a safer place. Do you?"

Torres gritted her teeth, still not entirely convinced, but capitulated anyway with a sigh. "No sir."

.

Ahsoka hadn't expected the ship to be quite so big. She'd been aboard her fair share of vessels during the Clone Wars, but the vast majority of them had been cruisers and frigates. This was a warship.

"You like?" asked Summers, making a minute adjustment to the helm console in front of him and looking briefly in her direction.

"Very much," she replied, transfixed.

"This is the _Excelsior_," said Summers, waving a hand at it. "She's one of the new Mon Cal cruisers. They say it can make point seven past light speed."

"Point seven…" echoed Ahsoka, marveling. "The fastest cruiser in the Republic fleet at the end of the Clone Wars could only make point four."

"There've been a few advancements in recent years," said Summers, affecting a nonchalant air. "Combat is the mother of weapons improvement. We've cut the recharge time for planetary ion cannons by a full half, shipboard by forty percent. Best of all, the Empire's ion cannons are actually a little worse than ours, which gives us an edge when we're trying to take ships. Sometimes a few seconds makes the difference."

"I'll bet," said Ahsoka, feeling the tractor beam take hold of their little shuttle. "This should be very interesting."

.

"General Tano," said Urazoe, bowing graciously as his successor stepped out of the airlock. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Any enemy of Vader's is a friend of mine."

"I appreciate your attitude, Captain," said Ahsoka, grasping his hand and shaking it firmly. "If the entire Alliance military is like you, I might turn forty in a refurbished Jedi Temple."

"Let's hope so, ma'am. Your quarters are down this way," he said, gesturing, "and my chief of security is off duty at the moment. I could order her to a briefing room so that the two of you can coordinate this operation. What would you prefer first?"

For Ahsoka, there was no question. "Contact your security chief. There's much to be done."

.

Darth Vader felt as though he'd just bitten down hard on a live wire. He sensed something, a presence he'd not felt since…

In a flash, he knew: Ahsoka Tano was alive. His former Padawan had escaped the Empire and had managed not to die in another manner while doing so. A part of him, a part he'd long thought buried, was pleased at this. The part in question was no longer him. The part in question was an echo, a remnant of weakness, nothing more.

He concentrated, trying to determine _where_ she was…and failed. _Someone completed her training,_ he realized, surprised when even stronger attempts to discern her location failed. _She always did have promise._

_She's coming to find me._ He couldn't explain how he knew, but he knew that it was true. _Actually,_ he thought, nearly smiling in remembrance, _I know because of her…tenacity. _He then realized something else, something that gave him pause. _She doesn't know who I was. She believes I'm simply the Scourge of the Jedi._

_She comes this way prepared to kill me._

_Perhaps it's time I paid a visit to a mutual acquaintance._

_._

The dungeons of Bast Castle were dark, dank and ancient, the cells blocked by forcefields and large, padlocked metal doors.

Vader strode to one of these cells, forcing aside both sets of barriers with the sheer power of the Dark Side. He looked in on a pitiful sight—a wreck of a man, cowering in the corner and shivering as though he were on Hoth.

"Master Kerir, I believe that you could be of assistance to me."

"Go…to…" began the man, stopping as his shivers grew more pronounced and he was unable to utter anything more.

"You know _nothing_ of Hell."

"I'd call this place close."

_I will not tolerate such insolence,_ thought Vader, grabbing him roughly with the Force and suspending him in the air. "Do not presume to judge me!" Vader began to Force-choke him.

"I was like you, once," said the Sith, bitterly. "I believed that there was nothing more important than staying true to the ideals of the Jedi, of peace and harmony and justice."

"Pity you lost your brain somewhere."

"Do you know why the Jedi really fell?" continued Vader, tightening his grip around the man's throat. "They were introspective." He said the last word like a curse. "They were _so _introspective. And in the process they forgot to tend to the galaxy! They were supposedly guardians of peace and justice, but they let _slavery_ run rampant in the outer Rim!"

The Jedi was clawing frantically at his throat, and Vader loosened his grip just enough to not kill him. He didn't want Kerir to die—not yet.

"The Outer Rim wasn't part of the Republic," gasped Kerir, gulping in as much sweet air as he could.

"Since when is justice limited by borders?"

Kerir paused, considering as well as he could with a mildly constricted air flow. "Not all of us were in full agreement with the Council on this. Master Jinn-"

"Qui-Gon Jinn was the exception that proved the rule," said Vader, shaking with anger. "I admit to you that the Empire is not what I would wish it to be. But there are times when the old must be burned down to pave way for the new. And I promise you, eventually the new will function _better_ than the old.

"You could help me," he entreated the man before him, letting him down; "you could help me mold this Empire into a better place, help me mold it into what the Republic _should_ have been."

Kerir was silent for a moment, tracing lines in the dust and dirt that covered the floor. "I could almost believe you," he said, finally, his shivering and former demeanor all but gone and replaced by a cold fury, "if not for two things."

"And they are?"

"One," said the Jedi, looking remarkably composed under the circumstances, "you've murdered countless of my fellows."

"I have already-"

"Two," continued the Jedi without hearing the Sith, "the Empire _endorses_ slavery. If you want to remold the galaxy, then slavery should have no part in it. I understand that slavery has been decreed by the Emperor, and that he is the one man in the galaxy more powerful than you, but I submit that by not forcing him to change you have become what you believe the Jedi were—a hypocrite. I'm quite content to remain in this cell."

Vader sighed inwardly. He hadn't really expected to succeed. But he had one final sabbacc card to play. "Ahsoka Tano is alive. She's coming here. If you can dissuade her from this course of action, I'll free you and never trouble you again."

Kerir shook his head and stared into the eyes of his captor, the man who had been responsible for the deaths of many good people, Jedi and non-Jedi alike. This man was a killer, pure and simple. Kerir didn't negotiate with killers.

"It looks as though I have no further need of you," said the Sith, eerily calm.

"I don't suppose this means I go free, does it?"

"Hardly." Then Vader lifted the Jedi into the air for the final time.

_Crack._

_._

Rebel cruiser _Excelsior_

"This is the craziest thing that I've ever heard." Lieutenant Elena Torres couldn't help but voice her objection to the incredibly hazardous plan that had just been presented to her.

"It'll work," replied General Ahsoka Tano in what she obviously thought was a reassuring tone. Torres found it hard to believe that this was a woman who was technically her superior officer. _Not in brains, apparently…_

"Ma'am, I respectfully suggest that there are way too many TTCGBOW in this."

"Beg pardon? TTCG-what?"

"Things That Can Go Boom or Wrong. It's a technical term."

"Nothing's going to go wrong with the assistance of a fully trained Jedi Knight, Commander."

"With all due respect, ma'am," said Torres, her tone making it clear that she didn't think the Jedi deserved much, "you're not a god. You're a Togruta, and you're vulnerable to lasers, explosions and electrocution, all of which you stand a good chance of dying of while following this ill-conceived plan."

"And I suppose you have a better one?"

"I might at that."

"Well, let's hear it."

"You said that you can sense where Vader is, right? Can you tell what sector he's in?"

Ahsoka closed her eyes and concentrated, reaching out to the Force as she hadn't in years. "I feel…darkness, and lots of it. He's in or near the Auril sector."

"Our sources say he has a fortress on the planet Vjun. He calls it Bast Castle."

"That planet is steeped in the dark side, Commander. Now, what's your plan?"

A slow grin spread across Torres's face. "You might not entirely like this one, General…"

.

"I haven't worn something like this since I was a teenager," said Ahsoka, looking into a plasteel container and lifting out its contents as if they were trash.

"You wore something like that when you were a teenager?" asked Torres, raising an eyebrow in mild amusement.

"Of course I did," said Ahsoka simply. "I was a teenage girl in a celibate order. What would _you_ have done?"

Torres had no response to this as Ahsoka held the garment up to herself.

"When I was at the Temple, I had sleep-clothes that covered more than this."

Torres grinned again. "Is that a grumble or nostalgia?"

Ahsoka turned to the security chief, looking as though she'd just been struck with a wonderful idea. "Commander, could you do me a favor?"

"Sure. Need a nice hot cup of stimcaf?"

"I was more thinking you should get a nice hot cup of shut up." With that, the Togruta turned away, surveying the garment once more.

"Aye-_aye_, General," said Torres sarcastically, mock-saluting.

Ahsoka sighed, swinging the garment over her shoulder and heading for the door. "Let's go get that Imperial shuttle."

.

Ahsoka tried not to think about the two squads of plainclothes commandos posing as patrons of the bar as she sauntered in and sat down on a stool and made a quick gesture for attention to the bartender. They'd barely gotten their codes past the Imperial screening to land on the planet—distractions wouldn't help now. _Mind on the mission,_ she thought to herself. _Mind on the mission._

"Would you happen to have any way to help a girl contact Lord Vader?" she asked aloud, inwardly praying she sounded her part.

"What, you think I got his comlink number or somethin', lady?"

"Well," she said, trying not to inhale the secondhand smoke from the bartender's noxious cigar, "I _had_ his number, because he specifically asked for me to come here. I lost it, though—I'm so _bad_ at keeping track of things. You understand, don't you?"

"Uh…yeah, yeah, sure thing. Listen, I'm gonna need to see some proof that he actually asked-"

"I don't think you need to see that," replied Ahsoka, smiling sweetly and bellying her words with the power of the Force. "You want to give me access to your emergency comm. unit with the appropriate code so I can tell him I'm here, don't you?"

"Yeah," said the bartender, his face growing slack, "I think I wanna go plug in the comm. code and call Vader and tell him you're here."

She frowned. People like this man were generally weak-minded, but he was putting up at least a small amount of resistance. She tried again. "You don't need to come with me, just give me the code and I'll comm. him myself. I _am_ smart enough to hit a button, you know," she added, batting her eyes and fighting the urge to regurgitate her last meal.

"I don't need to come with you," echoed the man. "I'll just give you the code and you can comm. him yourself." He wrote it down on a scrap piece of flimsiplast and handed it to her, gesturing towards a hallway with a large OFF-LIMITS sign. "Go right down there and take the first door on the left. Don't touch any of the magazines."

.

_This is one of the stupidest things I've ever done,_ thought Ahsoka, _but it's so crazy that it just might work._

Contacting a Sith Lord on his private comm. channel was itself ridiculous. Betting that she'd be let in because he wanted to kill her personally? That was in a whole new category.

"_This is an emergency frequency, reserved for use by planetary personnel," _said the Sith in question as his image shimmered into being. _"You are not base personnel. Explain yourself at once."_

"Lord Vader, I'm Reya Thren. You told me to come a few months ago…"

"_Ah, Ms. Thren,"_ he said, inclining his head in a courtly fashion, _"I've been expecting you."_ Something about those words sent a chill down her spine._ "Did you lose the comm. number?"_

"Y-yes," she stammered, unable to hide her abject fear now.

"_Ah. It was smart of you to think of making local inquiries." _He paused. _"I must say, however, that that outfit doesn't become you."_

"What?" Of all things, the last she'd expected to hear was a Sith Lord admonishing her on her choice of clothing.

"_The time for wearing that was when you were a Padawan."_

"What are you talking about?" she asked, fighting the urge to run screaming from the building. _How could this monster know me? Was he a Jedi once?_

The Sith inclined his head again, this time in a manner that suggested he was smiling. She knew that gesture, and the smile that had so often gone with it. She knew the man who'd done the smiling. And then, somehow, she knew who the man she was conversing with was before he spoke again. _I don't believe it,_ she thought, knowing that shock was all too evident on her face. She didn't care.

"_Don't you recognize me, Snips?"_


	5. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

_No one commits evil because they have correctly identified it as such. They believe that what they are doing is the right thing. This, of course, makes them incredibly dangerous._

-Jedi Master Adi Gallia to her Padawan, Siri Tachi, 40 BBY

"What are you talking about?" The words were forced, barely audible, the woman who spoke them all but physically reeling.

"Search your feelings, my old Padawan. I trained you well enough to detect lies, did I not?"

"Palpatine hid from the Jedi for years while he was Chancellor," she said, her mind still numb with shock. "If he could do that, what's to say you couldn't make it appear as though your Force signature is that of a dead man?"

Vader merely looked at her, and she had a horrible mental image of Anakin's face behind the mask. His breathing was loud, harsh. What had happened to—_It's not him,_ she reminded herself. _It can't be. Anakin was a good man. This…this is a monster._

Even after nearly two decades, she could visualize what his expression would be with perfect clarity. The raised eyebrow, the little half-smile that said "Come on, I'm the Master. I'm right on this one."

_This. Is. Not. Him._

"You have a point," said Vader at last, inclining his head yet again. "Very well. Ask me something that only Anakin would know."

She recovered herself enough to think back to all those years ago. "When did Anakin tell me why he didn't to return to Tatooine?"

.

21 BBY  
Six months after the Battle of Christophsis  
Planet Kashyyyk

"Why is the clone garrison here so small?" asked fifteen-year-old Ahsoka Tano, walking beside her Master and looking up at him with a quizzical expression.

"The Wookies feel that they can protect their planet with minimal outsider assistance," responded Anakin Skywalker, his face indicating that his thoughts had recently been elsewhere, perhaps elsewhen.

"But there are tons of clones in the army, we could spare at least another crui-" began Ahsoka, stopping in mid-sentence when she saw the expression on her Master's face. _Here comes another lesson._

"We could, yes. But Kashyyyk is the Wookie's planet, and we have to respect their wishes." Seeing that she still didn't understand fully, he elaborated. "Essentially, Snips, it's a matter of pride."

"Pride?"

"Isn't that what I just said?" asked Anakin with a playful expression, shaking his head in mild amusement and continuing. "The Wookies pride themselves on being effective warriors, but they know that if a full-scale invasion were ever mounted clone support could be invaluable. So they ordered the smallest sane support available—one garrison and an accompanying battleship. No more, no less."

"Master Yoda says pride is dangerous."

"It's a natural part of this universe, Snips. Antimatter is dangerous, but that doesn't stop us from using it in hyperdrives."

"Antimatter is controlled. Master Yoda says that some things are so hard to control that we shouldn't risk using them. Pride, anger," she said, ticking them off on her fingers. "Getting caught up in the past…"

Anakin was silent for the next several minutes, and then finally he opened his mouth again. "Control is key, Snips. With pride and anger you can _never_ loosen the reins. Otherwise…"

"Otherwise what?"

"It's like he says. You'll end up doing something you wish you hadn't, and then you'll think you've put it behind you but it's really remained with you the entire time. Old sins really do cast long shadows."

"Do you have an old sin, Master?"

Anakin turned to his Padawan, sighing in resignation. "You never give up, do you?"

"Nope," she said brightly, prompting a slight roll of the eyes from her Master. "I've been told that's a good thing," she added with a little half-smile that seemed to only worsen Anakin's mood.

"It is. I just…fine," he said, fumbling for words. "You've saved my life over a dozen times in half as many standard months; I suppose you have a right to know." His face turned dark with remembrance. He opened his mouth and closed it again, swearing under his breath in frustration. "You have to promise not to tell _anyone_, okay? Not Obi-Wan, not any of your friends, not the troops, and certainly not the Council."

_What's going on?_ A chill went down her spine, but for some reason she couldn't fathom she nodded anyway. "I promise, Master."

"Good." A long silence passed, and then he continued. "I was a Padawan, only a few years older than you are now…"

.

"You could have tortured that out of him," said Ahsoka, staunchly refusing to believe that she was in anything except a nightmare.

"Why would I have asked him about that? What possible intelligence value could that have?" Force, no, she could see Anakin's face as if it were right in front of her. The expression that said 'Now that's just crazy, and you know it. Try again.'

_Alright,_ she thought, _I will._ "Don't ask me to explain the workings of your mind, Darth. You could have discovered his home planet and questioned him about it under truth serum." She shuddered, remembering her own experience with the drug at the hands of the late, unlamented General Grievous.

"I'd thought you above such irrationality," he said, sounding mildly amused. "Really, Snips, I may wear armor, but I'm not the good General." Had he been reading her mind? Could he do that, even through her mental shields? "I am, or once was, Anakin Skywalker, the Hero Without Fear. I am the man you came here to kill." He said it casually, almost in passing, as if he were confirming for a reporter that yes, his favorite food _was_ nerf sausage.

"Yes." Whoever he was, there was no denying his last statement. But still, if he _was_ Anakin…could she kill him? She didn't know.

Then the door behind her opened and the noise brought her back to the world outside her emotions. She swore at her carelessness. She'd been so consumed in her discussion, so oblivious to everything else that she'd allowed numerous Imperial storm-troopers to enter unopposed. That was the mistake of a Padawan, not a fully trained Knight. But there was nothing she could do now—not when she could feel through the Force that half a dozen soldiers were aiming laser rifles at her head.

"Before attempting that," continued Vader as if his troops weren't there, "would you care to join me for dinner?"

Now there was no doubt. Only Anakin had been able to make an invitation sound so much like a threat.

.

"_Why_?" Ahsoka sat at one end of a monstrous dining table, grateful for the distance between them. She could barely control herself, trembling with the effort it took not to grab her lightsaber—which, for some reason, Vader had ordered left in her possession—and strike down the sight in front of her.

"Why what?" asked Vader with a maddening calm. She could almost hear the smirk behind the mask.

"You were a good man, once," she said, part of her still feeling—no, _wishing,_ and that wasn't _part_ of her, it was _all_ of her—she were in the midst of a terrible dream. "You were a hero. You saved people, made their lives better. Now look at you. You're at the beck and call of the Emperor, the worst tyrant this galaxy's seen in over a millennium." She looked straight into where his eyes must have been behind his mask, searching desperately for some trace of humanity. "The Anakin Skywalker I knew would have died; no, he would have _killed_ himself before serving such a man."

The lights began to flicker. Nearly in a monotone, Vader replied "Anakin Skywalker was weak."

"What happened to the commandos watching my back?"

"They were enemies of the Empire."

"So they're dead. I'm a Jedi. I'm an enemy of the Empire. Will you kill me like you did them? What's _happened_ to you?"

To all outward appearances he was unaffected by her words. "Desperate times call for desperate measures, Padawan." Something had changed in his voice. Was he feeling regret? _A bit late for that,_ thought Ahsoka angrily.

"Don't call me that," she snapped, her hand moving towards her 'saber. "You lost that right when you put on that suit."

"I'm afraid that if you knew all that occurred in the last days of the Republic, you would think I'd lost it earlier."

"What do you mean?"

"Obi-Wan is the reason for this suit," Vader hissed. "He _betrayed_ me. I thought of him as a _father_, he called me his _brother_, and he _betrayed_ me."

"Master Kenobi wasn't exactly the spontaneous type—if he did something to you, there had to have been a-" She grabbed uselessly at her throat, trying to throw off the sudden pair of invisible hands that were constricting it. "Oh," she choked out, "damn you, _look_ at yourself. Look at what you're doing."

"Obi-Wan is single-handedly responsible for my not _wanting_ to look at myself. Almost to the end, I was a fine and upstanding Knight of the Order," said Vader, releasing her yet seeming otherwise oblivious of her. "As you know, I was rather close with the Chancellor. He was relaxed around me, or at least I thought he was. He mentioned things to me he wouldn't have to anyone else. Then the Council told me that they wanted me to report on what he told me. They were worried he was amassing far too much power for one man." He snorted derisively. "He was more powerful than they could have possibly imagined."

Ahsoka massaged her throat. "Every single Jedi you haven't managed to kill yet knows that he's a Sith. Is this something else?"

"He single-handedly defeated three of the best duelists the Order had ever seen, and very nearly killed Master Windu. Eventually, that part was left to me."

"You killed a member of the Council-"

"I _slaughtered_ the majority of the Council, one by one. None of them deserved to live." He said it with a matter-of-fact air.

_And why shouldn't he?_ reflected Ahsoka. _That's all it was to him._ Still, in recognition of who he once was, she had to at least _try_ to save him."Do you remember our visit to Manaan?" she asked, hoping for a miracle.

"The orphanage?"

"Yes."

"What about it?"

"While there, you told me that children were the galaxy's most important resource, because they'd be running the galaxy one day. How many others did you kill, Vader? How many children did you kill, that looked at you and saw a frequent playmate instead of a Sith?"

Anakin had loved children. He'd made a point of playing with the Younglings whenever he was at the Temple. But now…she knew Vader had led the assault on the Temple. That much had been publicized. She also knew that the Temple had been razed, and, officially at least, there were no survivors.

"They were casualties of war."

"When you led that attack," she said bitterly, "you betrayed all of your friends and everything you ever stood for."

"The Jedi were corrupt, stagnant. They had forgotten their true purpose in the galaxy. The Sith are different. The Sith are _better._"

"You really believe that?" she asked, probing him subtly with the Force. _There has to be good in him, somewhere, no matter what he's done. And even if there isn't,_ she reflected, barely allowing herself to consider the possibility, _I owe it to Anakin's memory to keep trying._

"I do."

"I don't think so. Anakin Skywalker would never have stayed with a government that condones and practices slavery. It's obvious that whatever you once were, you aren't him."

"I'm glad we can agree on something," rumbled the Sith, amused. "As it is, you are right that the Empire is far from what it should be, what it is meant to be. I can help it fulfill its destiny as the successor to the Old Republic."

"What you're really saying is you lacked the courage," continued Ahsoka, bitter and unbelieving. "You could have found a place, could have started another Order with your power. Instead you didn't hold onto a shred of dignity and became a coward to top it all. You deserve to die."  
_Such sanctimoniousness_, thought Vader._ A pity I didn't train it out of her._ "You would not be the first to attempt to make me do so."

"That's irrelevant. I'll be the last." She pushed her plate away and stood up, drawing and activating her lightsaber. The blade shined its familiar emerald green, casting an eerie shadow on her face. Among the Togrutas, green was the color of passion, rage, blood—and vengeance. Long ago, she'd chosen it for the first quality. Now it seemed incredibly apt when considering the last. "It's time that the Scourge of the Jedi was wiped from this galaxy."

"Ahsoka," said Vader, still seated and looking like the picture of calm—eerily so, considering the energy sword humming close to him—"I have no desire to kill you."

"That should make this easy, then," she said. Then she leapt.


	6. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

_Snips, if I ever turn to the Dark Side, I want you to treat me the same way you tried to treat Grievous on Skytop Station. Get some backup if possible, because I don't think I'll be too easy to kill if I ever _do _turn, but in any event I want you to make every effort to kill me before I can hurt anyone. That's a direct order, Commander._

-Anakin Skywalker to Ahsoka Tano, six months before the formation of the Empire

Rage and hatred coursed through her veins like venom, and against all she'd been taught, she didn't care. Her emerald blade flashed against her former mentor's crimson one, creating a shower of sparks. Vader hadn't even stood up yet.

"Do not presume that you have the skill to beat me," rumbled the Sith as he rose to his feet. "I've taken down Jedi far more skilled than you. This is your last chance: Drop your weapon and leave now. I will not pursue."

"No," she said bitterly, "If you were half the man Anakin was, you'd walk out with me and help lead the Rebellion. But you're not, are you? You were a good man, once. Now Anakin Skywalker's name will be amongst the names of Dooku and Malak. Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One. Anakin Skywalker, the Betrayer," she finished in disgust.

"That name," he said slowly, "no longer has any meaning for me." The doors all slammed shut and their bars fell. There would be no interruption in the coming struggle.

"Obviously not. He would have died before doing half the things you have. You took my family from me!" she yelled, abandoning words and hurling him across the room with a brutal Force push. "Everyone I knew and everything I was went up in flames because of you!"

Vader never reached the wall he'd been thrown towards. Stopping himself in mid-air, he levitated upwards, looking for a moment like a fallen angel guarding Hell. "Your 'family' was once mine as well. They pretended otherwise, but at their core they were corrupt-"

"And so you killed them?!" She leapt straight into the air, raising herself to his level. "That's rich coming from an ex-slave who condones slavery. You were the Chosen One, not a god!"

"I never said I was either. I do not have the power to oppose the Emperor. With you at my side, things would be different, and-"

"Shut up and fight, Sith," she said bitterly. She hurled an ornate wooden chair at him with the Force, knocking him to the floor just before she suffered the same fate via a table.

Then she was a tempest, coming at him in unchecked fury. He swept at her legs and she blocked, flipping her lightsaber up and over his head and striking a glancing blow on his shoulder.

"Attempting to use the Dark side on a master of it is futile," proclaimed Vader, seemingly feeling no pain from his injury. She understood that much of him—anger could be a powerful motivator. "I will beat you. It is pointless to pretend otherwise."

"I gave up thinking there was a difference between the dark and the light a long time ago thanks to you," she responded, grunting with effort as she blocked a sweep at her chest.

"All I did was free you from Jedi indoctrination," he said, pushing against her.

"And here I was under the impression you'd actually meant all those comments about me being an intelligent Padawan!" she said, abandoning all thought as she continued her assault. This was a military operation. It was a war.

He ducked and rolled, thrusting low towards her thigh only to be met with a powerful parry that would have knocked his saber from his grasp had his arm not been more machine than man.

"Impressive," he said, noting her look of horror when his arm didn't waver. Almost casually, he reached out with the Force and shorted out her 'saber, compressing it into scrap metal while still in her hand. "Most impressive."

He then reached a hand and hurled her as she recently had him, except this time with a power ten times greater than hers. He pinned her to the wall and began walking calmly towards her. "You underestimate the power of the Dark Side."

She pulled against his strength in vain, realizing now the true power of the man who'd trained her. All those times in training when she'd thought he was going all out, he'd been holding back. Every time. Now he wasn't, and it showed. But she was a Jedi. She kept trying.

"You are still young, Ahsoka," said Vader, standing not more than a foot in front of her. "You could have many years left. It is your choice: Join me, and you do not die today. Join me, overthrow the Emperor, end his tyranny, end this destructive conflict, and help me bring order to the galaxy."

"I'll never join you!" _That's it_, she thought, _keep talking. Relax, just a little._

"Remember Kerir, Ahsoka? The boy you always sparred with whenever you had the chance? I saw the way you looked at him. The Sith understand that suppressing essential emotions like love is not only torturous, it is dangerous. If you can't love, then how can you say you respect the living Force?"

"There is no emotion," said Ahsoka, tearing her eyes from him and chanting the familiar mantra, "there is peace." She'd stopped pulling.

"You loved him." It was a statement, not a question.

"There is no ignorance," she continued, "there is knowledge."

"The chains you now recite made you ignorant of life! Under the Sith, you and Kerir could have had many years together."

"There is no passion, there is serenity."

"Serenity?!" bellowed Vader, incredulous. "Serenity when everyone you've ever loved dies? Serenity when the monster that killed them all stands so close to you and you can't hurt him? Surely there must be a limit to serenity."

"There is no death," finished Ahsoka, "there is the Force." She closed her eyes. "Do your worst."

Vader reactivated his lightsaber and hefted it high over his head, aiming for her heart. He brought it down with an inhuman swiftness, and Ahsoka drew in a breath as the deadly shaft of energy grew ever closer, closer, and—hung there, like an indecisive stingwing. He released her, and she fell to the floor.

"Go."

"You decided that one more dead Jedi was too much?" she asked, bringing herself to her feet.

"I have decided that there is no need for you to die today," said the Sith simply. "Do not tempt me to reconsider."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

He paused, considering her. "If you were to join me-"

She shook her head. "No. Not today."

He nodded. "I understand."

"No, I don't think you do. I can't let myself become what you have. That would be the height of disservice to everything you once were." She smiled faintly. "It's no good for the galaxy if the last Jedi turns to the dark side."

For a moment, the Sith seemed shocked beyond words. He recovered himself quickly and used his power to return her now-scrap lightsaber hilt to her. "You may go."

She demonstrated her own power and opened the doors. The next instant, she was staring straight down the rifle barrels of a squad of stormtroopers.

"Sergeant!" bellowed Vader, ripping the squad's weapons from their hands before they could fire. "This woman is to go free. If she is harassed in any way, I will personally feed you to a rancor."

The lead trooper nodded, and he and his squad stood at ease as their sworn enemy walked towards them.

"Ahsoka?" said Vader. She turned, tensed and ready for a possible continuation of their battle. Instead, he floated his lightsaber towards her, depositing it in her hand. "You're going to need that. The galaxy is a dangerous place."

She clipped the weapon to her belt and nodded. "I know. Evil lurks everywhere."


	7. Coda

Coda

_The most dangerous weapons in the galaxy have no blades, no barrels, and no grounding in the Force. The most dangerous weapons are words, which can cause anything an army has to lower—or to raise. Still, if words aren't an option, try using ordinary weapons to make a political statement of some kind instead of simply blowing the enemy out of the stars. What? Oh, yes, there have been times when both have happened. Did you sleep through all your history classes at the Temple? Don't they teach you about the Sith anymore?_

-Obi-Wan Kenobi to his Padawan, Anakin Skywalker, 28 BBY

4 ABY

"Hey, lady! You gonna buy that?"

Ahsoka shook her head, putting back the bracelet she'd been looking at. "Not today, friend. Maybe tomorrow."

"If you're not buyin', you cloggin'," said the shopkeeper gruffly. "If you're cloggin', I'm gonna have to ask you to move."

"Gladly."

She left the shop and walked along, letting down the hood of her cloak and enjoying the cool night breeze. The sounds of the Corellian nightlife often made it so she couldn't hear herself think, but tonight they were different, somehow. _Everything's calmer,_ she thought. _The planet's aura's inviting, almost. It's amazing_ _the positive effects a pair of proton torpedoes down a thermal exhaust shaft can have on the galaxy._

Caught up in the moment, she smiled. Her smile widened as she looked up into the sky and felt a familiar presence join with the Force. The presence was content, almost happy, which seemed fitting after a lifetime of anger and anguish.

She continued smiling and began walking with a spring in her step. Vader was dead, and the good man that was Anakin lived on.

It was good to know there were still reasons for hope in the galaxy.


End file.
